I was humming the song that Michael Jackson sang, today Man in the Mirror .

“If you want to make the world a better place then look at yourself and make the change.”

I would like to add to that lyric, and have courage, be silly, don’t care about unspoken rules: just do what is right.

Christiana and I went into the Kroger grocery store in Durham on our rounds of errands today.  The store has an eclectic mix of people: students from Duke, families living on a serious budget, older folk, black, white, gangsters, Hispanic . . . everyone.

We shopped and then decided to have a coffee at Starbucks located within the store.  As we were waiting for our latte’s to be completed, Christiana gasped when she sat down.  She reached for a man’s wallet that someone obviously had lost on the chair.  On close inspection we saw that it had quite a bit of money in it and an identification of someone from South Carolina.  We tried to find a phone number so we could call him but the girl next to us suggested we take it to the manager and announce his name over the loudspeaker just in case he was still in the store.   Of course.

I knew he was African American and that his name was Malik.  Off I went to the front desk on my mission, but as I was briskly walking toward my goal, a very tall, handsome young man walked by me.  He worked at Kroger’s and had a name tag on his shirt.  You guessed it: Malik.  I followed him around to the other side of the desk and looking carefully again, I spoke.

He looked a bit startled when I asked him if he was “Malik” and did he ever live in South Carolina.  He replied, Yes, but looked very confused.  I asked him if he had his wallet.

Instinctively he reached around to feel where it should have been and said he didn’t have it.  I playfully asked him, “Would you like it back?  Yes, he said.  He started to walk away.

An African American lady gasped. “What?  No thank you?  In this day and age, someone returned your wallet WITH all the money in it?  You owe her more than a thank you.  She deserves a hug!  This should NOT be about a race thing.”

He mumbled a quiet  thank you.

I looked at this handsome, shy, young man and walked right to him.  “I want a hug,” I said.

“It’s been a rough day,” he said.  “Well, we both need a hug and we got one.”

By now a small crowd had gathered.  Sweet moment.

If you scroll over to “Buy Bobo’s Daughter” and then scroll down to EBOOK you will be directed to Kindle on Amazon.

And then there is another layer: the actions, decisions and ways of being that come from the “invisible” generations of our history.  The Bible says we are influenced directly in our actions from seven generations past. Let’s just play with that concept for a minute: What did our seventh generation great-grandparents do in their lives that influenced the sixth generation that influenced the fifth generation and so on and so on?  What are the battles we are fighting in our own lives that link to the past?  What are the blessings we have in our personality and talent that have a direct genetic link to those who came before us?  Knowing who came before us can ignite those secrets of our heart that have laid dormant.

When we hear of our ancestors struggles it can give us courage to face our daily lives.  When we hear of success we can gain confidence to know we can really have that strength within to accomplish our dreams.  The light bulb clicked on for me when I realized my great-grandmother was an inner city missionary in Los Angeles in the 1930′s.  She was called “Mother Mary” and helped the homeless on the “mean streets of L.A.” as she said.  The connection was clear: I’ve always wanted to help others and I now find myself working with many families on the “mean streets of Durham, NC.”

And so  . . . Give yourself a treat . . . a thrill . . . perhaps a moment of understanding or compassion by searching for the truth.  I invite you to join Ancestry.com and begin to discover your silent history.  I can’t begin to tell you the thrill of knowing who you are.

Your friend on the journey,  Bonnie

Join Rita as she discovers some surprising facts about her late father’s history.

I encourage all of you to begin watching this series, if you haven’t already.  It makes an incredible difference in your life when you understand where you came from.

VERY SOON YOU WILL BE ABLE TO JOIN ANCESTRY.COM ON MY WEBSITE!

Ancestry.com was so instrumental in helping me find so many members of my “living” family.

In a couple of weeks I will have a re-designed website. You will be able to join Ancestry.com through my site!
It is so much fun to find out who you are and where you came from.

Bonnie